Larval rearing of an endangered catfish, Ompok bimaculatus (Bloch, 1794) with live and artificial diets: A preliminary study in Tripura, India

Abstract

An ex-situ experiment was conducted for 28 days in order to evaluate the survival and growth rate of the larvae of an endangered freshwater catfish Ompok bimaculatus (Bloch, 1794) for stock enhancement. 7 days old post-hatchlings were stocked in plastic tubs having 30 L capacity and fed five different diets; zooplankton,Tubifex, zooplankton plus tubifex, egg custards and compound feed. Fishes accepted all types of diets. The experiment revealed that specific growth rate (SGR) was relatively higher in post-hatchlings fed on zooplankton plus tubifex (4.79±0.58) followed by tubifex (4.11±0.52), zooplankton (3.94±0.14), egg custards (3.46±0.31) whereas minimum SGR was observed with compound feed (2.93±0.24). Significant difference (p